Launch of Orbital's cargo ship Cygnus delayed further

Cygnus is scheduled to fly on 5:10 pm ET on Saturday, 5 December.

Orbital ATK's cargo ship Cygnus, which was supposed to resupply the International Space Station (ISS), has been delayed further due to bad weather. The new launch time is set at 5:10 pm ET on 5 December.

The earlier launch attempt which was scheduled on 3 December and later on 4 December was rescheduled due to the rain and cloudy weather.

The earlier attempt in 2014 by Orbital had blown up in flames while Elon Musk's SpaceX, the other commercial cargo ship in NASA contract, experienced failed to launch.

NASA prefers to stock materials up to six months in its ISS. However the two failed attempts have meant the stocks have dwindled to last only a few months.

The carrier is also supposed to lug equipment and samples meant to aid research in the orbital laboratory. The research is meant to docus on "advanced and automated data collection and in the behaviour of gases, liquids and burning textiles in micro-gravity".

A launch in March is planned by Orbital, and another in May. SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, has a January launch planned.

Russia, which lost a cargo ship earlier, has another planned near Christmas.